SAV: Danube Flow Rate at Devin Fell to Record Low on Monday (2)

Bratislava, 30 July (TASR) - The Danube recorded its lowest ever recorded flow rate on Monday (27 July), spokesperson for the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) Jozef Bednar told TASR on Thursday, adding that preliminary data from the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute show that the flow rate was around 725 cubic metres per second, while the Austrian station at Thebnerstraßl recorded a flow rate of 678 cubic metres per second. "The Danube's lowest flow rates in Bratislava usually occur during the winter months, from November to February. May, June and July are supposed to be the months with the highest water levels, as this is when the snow in the Alps melts. Such a low flow rate for the Danube at the Bratislava/Devin station in July has never been recorded in the history of observations dating back to 1876," noted Pavla Pekarova from the SAV Institute of Hydrology. According to her, this is due to the fact that rising air temperatures are causing the snow to melt earlier. The Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU) added that this July on the Danube in Bratislava has been the driest in the entire history of record-keeping. "The average July flow rate has reached just 939.2 cubic metres per second. This is the lowest figure since records began in 1901, representing only 36 percent of the long-term monthly average for July. By comparison, the previous record-breaking dry July in 2003 had a flow rate of 1,326 cubic metres per second," said the experts, adding that this July is almost 29 percent lower in water volume than the previous record minimum. Scientists currently have an unbroken record of Danube flow rates dating back to 1876. They maintain that the long-term flow rate of the Danube fluctuates at around 2,050 cubic metres per second. The lowest average daily flow rate of the Danube was recorded on 6 January 1909, at 580 cubic metres per second, while the highest was recorded in September 1899 at 10,810 cubic metres per second. Pekarova stated that although there has been a change in the monthly flow of the Danube, average annual flows in Bratislava have so far remained stable over the long term. Flow rates have been falling over the past 30 years. "A similar situation in terms of ten-year flow rates over the last thirty-year period from 1986 to 2025 also occurred between 1906-1935," she said, adding that everything will depend on the amount of rainfall in the Danube catchment area. "We can learn from history. If the situation from the 1936-1945 decade were to repeat itself, we could expect a wetter period and higher flow rates once again," she noted. NOTE: This story has been extended to include paragraph 3. am